Police have “neutralized” a shooting suspect at Umpqua Community College in Roseberg, Oregon, and have confirmed that the individual is deceased and was a 20 year-old male. Disputed is the number of fatalities reported as between 10-15 with 20 wounded. My prayers are with the students, faculty, and families of UCC. While authorities assess the scene the White House has called for stronger gun control laws.

“The issue of sensible steps that can be taken to protect our communities from gun violence continues to be a top priority of this administration,” press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters. [...]

Earnest said the “vast majority of Americans” support stricter gun laws, including closing the so-called gun-show loophole. But he said Obama is “realistic” about the dim prospects of congressional action on gun control.

“The president has been quite candid about how this is and has been a source of frustration for him,” he said.

Under state law, people in Oregon could carry concealed firearms on college campuses like the one where a gunman killed several people and wounded several others on Thursday. However, Umpqua Community College has been established as a gun-free zone thanks to a loophole in state law that has made every third-level institution in the state almost entirely gun-free. Here’s how that works.

Currently, only three states—Idaho, Utah and Colorado—allow guns on campuses regardless of school policy. Oregon’s guns-on-campus law is a bit more complicated.

Under state law, “campus carry” is permitted, but each university can set its own policy on whether or not they want to allow firearms. In 2012, after the state legislature failed to pass a bill that would have banned guns on campuses, Oregon’s State Board of Education, which oversees many of the state’s public universities, unanimously approved a policy that bans guns from its campuses, and other institutions followed suit. Additionally, the policy states that anyone who does business with any of the state universities—which includes “students, employees, contractors, people buying tickets to university events or people renting university property,” according to a 2012 article posted on OregonLive.com—must agree to not bring weapons on campus. Anyone who violates this policy cannot be criminally prosecuted, but can face punishment by the university. Students and faculty could face disciplinary action from the university, while contractors risk a breach of contract lawsuit.

The State Board tried to ban guns on campus entirely, but were denied by Oregon’s Court of Appeals. The current policy of the State Board of Education states that people with concealed carry permits are allowed to bring their firearms on campuses, but are not into university buildings, which means a person can roam a campus with a concealed weapon, but if they want to go indoors, they must have somewhere (like the trunk of their car) to store their weapon. Umpqua Community College is not governed by the State Board of Education, but has a similar policy in place.

“Possession, use, or threatened use of firearms (including but not limited to BB guns, air guns, water pistols, and paint guns) ammunition, explosives, dangerous chemicals, or any other objects as weapons on college property, except as expressly authorized by law or college regulations, is prohibited,” according to the college’s code of conduct.

The former president of an Oregon community college where a gunman opened fire, killing at least seven people, says the school has only one security officer on duty at a time, and that person isn't armed.

Joe Olson retired in June from his position as president of Umpqua (UMP'-kwah) Community College in Roseburg.

Gov. Kate Brown signed Senate Bill 941 into law on May 11 after an intense legislative battle that pitted gun-rights activists against groups seeking to stem gun violence.

The measure requires criminal and mental health checks for private gun transfers. The federal government has long required these checks for sales by licensed gun dealers. The state police conducted about 240,000 checks last year and denied about 1 percent of the sales because the buyer is legally prohibited from possessing a firearm.

[...]

When the bill takes effect, Oregon will become the 12th state to require universal background checks for both handguns and long guns.

It is illegal for prohibited possessors to purchase or carry firearms. It is illegal to knowingly transfer a firearm to a prohibited possessor. It is a felony to possess if prohibited. I'm not sure what law or additional restriction would have prevented this.

We also don't know anything beyond the perpetrator at this time beyond the age, 20 years-old, and that the individual is deceased. We don't know the type of firearm used, important when discussing laws (I've heard one pundit already identify the weapon used as an “automatic”). It isn't confirmed if the individual posted a threat prior online. A witness said that the perpetrator “asked about religion.”

October 1st, 2015

SHARING

TAGS:

Dana Loesch

Dana Loesch is the author of "Hands Off My Gun” (October 2014, Hachette) and hosts her award-winning, daily syndicated radio show, "The Dana Show: The Conservative Alternative" on Radio America 1-4pm ET. She also hosts “DANA” on The Blaze TV, weekdays at 6pm ET.

comment(s)

Loesch shines the light of truth on everything from feminism to gun violence to abortion. She reveals the damage done by elitists who flat-out don’t get the lives and values of people in the heart of the country. And she asks commonsense questions such as: How can you be angry at Walmart if you’ve never shopped in one? How can you hate the police if you’ve never needed help from a cop? How can you attack Christians if you don’t have a single friend who goes to church?
In other words, how can you run a country you’ve never been to? And how much could our politics improve if Coastals would actually listen to their fellow Americans? This book is a rallying cry for anyone who wants our leaders to understand and respect the culture that made America exceptional in the first place.

Dana Loesch hosts her award-winning, nationally syndicated daily radio show, The Dana Show: The Conservative Alternative from Dallas, Texas where she also hosts “Dana” on The Blaze television network. Dana appears regularly on Fox News, ABC, CNN, among others, and has guest co-hosted “The View.” She describes herself as a “conservatarian.”